3 things not to miss at Cathedral City's Taste of Jalisco Festival this weekend

Cathedral City is hosting its 7th annual Taste of Jalisco Festival this weekend, featuring food, drinks and entertainment. If you're planning to go, or are still on the fence, here are The Desert Sun's top 3 things to look forward to at the festival:

Music

The liveliest part of the festival is, go figure, at the "fiesta zone" in the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater. There are live performances each day, including Dreaming of You on Saturday, and Corazón De Maná on Sunday. The headline concert will be performed by Grupo Control on Saturday.

A fiesta zone single-day pass is $10, and includes access to the festival's food trucks, beer garden, tequila tastings and lawn games. The headline concert is $30 if purchased in person and $25 online, and includes a single-day pass, according to the festival's website. But the first 500 Cathedral City residents can get into the amphitheater area for free each day of the festival, according to Ryan Hunt, the city's communication and events manager.

More information on performance times and tickets can be found at www.tasteofjalisco.com.

Carnival rides and games

Located near Cathedral City Hall and just outside the amphitheater area, the festival has set up carnival rides, games, and vendors. This portion of the festival is free for everyone to enter, but you'll need to pay to go on rides and play games.

There are around 14 carnival rides of interest to a variety of ages, including a Ferris wheel, mini-roller coaster, tilt-a-whirl and super slide. Attendees can win prizes playing classic games like balloon pop, bank a ball, shoot the hoop and duck pond.

Alanna Wong and her 9-year-old niece Kaia Wong participated in the carnival games on Friday. Kaia played the duck pond game and won a toy.

"It's a Friday night, and so we just wanted to have a good time and wanted to spend quality time with my niece," Alanna Wong said.

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Anni Aceian, Sandra Reyes, and their 3-year-old daughter Ava Aceian were enjoying the super slide.

"We live in Palm Desert, so we heard about the festival and we're like why not?" Aceian said. "It'll be something fun for Ava to come and enjoy."

Tickets for rides cost $1 for one ticket, $20 for 24 tickets, $30 for 40 tickets, and $60 for 80 tickets with cash. There is a slight upcharge if you use a debit or credit card. Rides generally cost between four to six tickets, with the Ferris wheel being the priciest at seven tickets.

Games cost $5-10 depending on the number of times people want to play. There is an ATM machine set up by the ticket booth.

Food trucks, beer garden and tequila tasting

Food trucks parked near the amphitheater are selling an eclectic array of tasty treats. Some of their offerings include sweets such as shaved ice, ice cream, funnel cake, kettle corn and aguas frescas. If you’re looking for savory dishes, there’s also burgers, tacos, sushi, spicy chicken sandwiches and more.

And there's no shortage of alcoholic drinks. Casamigos has a booth where you can try four of their tequilas for $19, a cocktail for $15 and/or a shot for $12. There's also a beer garden selling beer, cocktails, seltzers, sangrias, micheladas, and water.

Attendees can enjoy their food and drinks on the lawn, or the tables and benches set up throughout the amphitheater.

But if you don’t want to pay the fee to enter the fiesta zone just for food and drinks, a food stand by the carnival rides is selling favorites like corn dogs, caramel apples, and cotton candy. There are also a number of restaurants within walking distance of the festival, including Luchador Brewing Company, which is right by the carnival rides.

7th Annual Taste of Jalisco Festival in Cathedral City

When: Through Sunday, Feb. 5

When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Performance times vary, and can be found at www.tasteofjalisco.com.

Where: Cathedral City Community Amphitheater & Festival Lawn at 68-526 Avenida Lalo Guerrero in Cathedral City for performances, food trucks, and alcohol. The carnival rides, games and vendors can be found just outside the amphitheater and by City Hall.

Tickets: Purchase tickets for the fiesta zone online at www.tasteofjalisco.com.

Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 3 things to do at Cathedral City's Taste of Jalisco Festival